“Then why would he be dead now?”
“I believe that he suspected or knew something before-and that he might have pieced whatever it was together-and knew who killed Stella. Liam, I know you’re a cop, a detective, and that you have to carry on an active investigation. But you only know about that because I’m guilty of a crime, so until you get that search warrant, can you keep what I’ve told you to yourself for your own investigation?”
“You’re asking me to… Ah, hell. I’ll follow whatever angles I can on that in confidence-for now.”
“Thanks. Do you know anything else? What about forensics?”
“I’m pretty sure you know what I do. She wasn’t violated-she’d had sex with condoms, don’t know how much, but there was no evidence of sexual force or violence of any kind. She had chicken nuggets and fries for dinner. Oh-this is new. We had known, of course, that the killer wore gloves and took the women by surprise. But the lab found bits of cells that might help us eventually-amara.”
“Amara? It’s a synthetic leather, used in making warm-water dive gloves,” David said.
“Right. Our killer wears dive gloves.”
“Half of Key West might own dive gloves with amara,” David said.
“True.” Liam sighed. “Look, at this point, it eliminates half of Key West, so that’s good. Oh, yeah, the gloves have silicone on the fingertips. That might narrow down the brand. Look, I’m grabbing at every straw out there, and so is the entire force.”
“Are you holding anyone?”
“We still have Sanderson, but we can only keep him until tonight. He hasn’t called an attorney, because we aren’t going to call his wife-unless we find something on him. I let the kid, Lewis Agaro, go. I don’t think he’s staying for Fantasy Fest anymore. It was his first year down here as a twenty-one-year-old. Guess he’s going to be looking back at being underaged as the good old days.”
“Maybe. All right. Keep me posted. I’ll do the same.”
“You’re keeping an eye on Katie, I take it?” Liam asked.
“Absolutely,” David said.
His cousin was silent.
“What, you disapprove?” David asked.
“She deserves more.”
“Thanks.”
“No, I mean she deserves more than someone who is just using her while trying to chase away the ghosts of his past. Sorry, you might want to belt me for that, but it’s the truth.”
David hesitated. “Did I move in on anything?” he asked.
“No, she and I are friends, good friends. She’d deserve a lot better than me, too-all I seem to do these days is work. You’re leaving, David. You know you’re leaving. So keep it honest, huh?”
“I am honest,” David assured him. He hung up, reflecting.
He was honest, wasn’t he? Or was anything about him really honest? What he felt was. The need to leave this place had been just as basic. What did he feel now? He didn’t know. He’d been a lot of places-he’d hit every continent, every ocean.
And now?
He tensed, hearing something at the door. He tightened his towel and looked around instinctively for a weapon.
As he did so, Katie came tearing down the stairs from her room-heading straight for the door. “Katie!” he warned.
He grabbed the coffeepot; he wasn’t going to be able to stop her.
She was already throwing the door open.
Sean O’Hara stood there.
It had been ten years, but Sean had changed little. He was tall, well built, redheaded, lithe and muscular. He’d made an amazing running back during their high-school days.
He had a backpack on, and two huge duffel bags sat by his feet.
“Sean!” Katie said, and threw herself in her brother’s arms.
Awkward as hell! David thought. He hadn’t ever intended to lie, he’d never meant any harm to anyone, nor did he feel any need to apologize. He and Katie were definitely adults now, and they had chosen to be together.
He just hadn’t planned on wearing a towel when he first saw Sean.
“Katie O’Hara!” Sean said, sweeping her up and spinning her around as he came into the room. He let out a fake groan. “Wait, give it a minute, I’m getting old now, and you and the backpack at the same time… Nope, nope don’t think so!”
“I’m so glad you’re home!” she told him, standing, righting herself and stepping back. “I thought you’d call me, though, and tell me you were in the state.”
“Hey, you have a cell phone, too.”
“Yeah, but it never works when I try to call you!”
“All right, well, I’m here, and-” Sean’s voice broke off sharply. He stared at David. David realized that he was still holding the coffeepot. He set it on the range and stepped forward, his arm extended.
“Sean. Good to see you.”
He didn’t think that Sean was going to accept this situation easily; he was just stunned. He shook David’s hand.